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THE JAPANESE LANDSCAPE 



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From a drawing in India ink by Takeo Shiota. His signature is 
on the cliff at the left. The Japanese characters say "Japanese Land- 
scape. The Japanese characters on the front cover, also by Mr Shiota 
are the same as those in this cut. The cut on the back cover, also by Mr' 
bhiota, IS called by him, as he has v^rritten in the Japanese characters 
Idealized atmosphere of Japan." ' 



'=^'57 i^Qo 



The Newark Museum Association 
Newark, N. J. 



The Miniature Japanese Landscape 

A Short Description by T. Shiota 
of New York, Who designed the Landscape and assembled it 

This landscape stands in the entrance hall of the Public Library 
Building. It is 4' x 6' , and is covered zvith a glass case. 

First I drew a ground plan of the landscape to be made, after 
consulting with the Museum authorities, and also sketches of elevations 
of the buildings I proposed to put in it. These were approved and the 
landscape was ordered. 

The Making of the Objects 

How shall I obtain the needed materials? This was the first 
question. The little houses and trees and all the other objects I needed 
are not anywhere on the market. 

I asked the Yamanaka Company, New York branch, the greatest 
store for Oriental art objects, to make them. They accepted the order 
and sent my drawings, sketches and specifications to their factories in 
Japan. 

In the factories all the objects were executed by specialists in 
different departments. At a glance one can see that the Yamanaka 
artisans took great pains to work them out to the last degree of per- 
fection. Even smallest details are shown in the houses and the trees. 
The temple and the pagoda especially are so cleverly executed that we 
get from them the very aroma of old Japanese classical masterpieces, 
in spite of the very small scale of 1/75 of an inch to the foot. 

The furniture, utensils and all decorations are made in proper 
proportions to the buildings. The figures in the fields and in the gar- 
den and about the buildings were made and painted by special artists. 

All the things needed having been made, the landscape was set 
up by an artist in Japan, almost in the very form and almost in its 
completeness as you see it here. Then it was photographed, then the 
material was all packed in cases and sent to the Museum. There I 
received it and again set it up in accordance with my original sketches 



Sj54 



Newark Museum Association 



and plans. That the rocks and cliffs making the mountain and lining 
the streams and making stepping stones in the garden and elsewhere 
might have the right quality and color for the landscape and make the 
whole truly Japanese, all were sent from Japan as I had directed. The 
frame or border which surrounds the whole scene is also from Japan, 
being of weathered cedar, a wood which takes on in the lapse of years, 
if it is properly exposed to the weather, a very beautiful color and a 
very delightful texture, just suited, as I thought, to frame my picture. 

The General Design 

In designing this landscape my first thought was, "What sort of 
scenery shall I plan and how produce it in miniature so that, when set 
in an art museum, it will properly illustrate Japanese landscape to the 
American public?" 

After I had studied carefully the conditions of size, lighting and 
all other circumstances, I decided to compose it of three main features : 
general scenery, country architecture, and a garden. Then I added all 
I thought best to harmonize with and make more interesting these gen- 
eral features. 

In my imagination I saw the whole scheme as follows, and what 
I imagined I did my best to set forth in the completed scene : 

The Landscape Described 

On one side of a stream towers a rocky mountain. Midway up the 
mountain is a famous ancient temple, so set that from it one can look 
out upon farming lands below and far away. 

In the distance a country road winds along the stream, sometimes 
passing through woods, where cherry, plum and maple trees are all in 
flower. (I did not mind bringing these blooms together at one view, 
even though they are never so in fact.) This road sometimes passes 
by pine and cedar trees, sometimes comes to refreshing rice fields 
flooded with water for the planting, and now and again crosses a 
bridge. By the road, in the far distance, is the country residence of 
a man of wealth and refinement, with a large formal garden facing 
the rice field. 

In the rice field a gang of farmers and girls are setting out rice 
plants and singing merry songs as they work. On the road a few 
pack-horsemen are going to town. All is wrapped in a peaceful coun- 
try atmosphere. 



The Japanese Landscape 



Why the Landscape of Japan Is so Universally Admired 

The chief reason why Japan is praised for the beauty and for the 
dramatic quality of her landscape by the whole world is that Japan 
is a volcanic, mountainous island, with trees of many and beautiful 
kinds. There is much beautiful scenery along her coast. Inland are 
many picturesque lakes, sometimes nestled among lofty mountains. 
Clear and rapid streams dash along the slopes of the mountains, some- 
times making cascades, and again they run gently through the plains. 
The rugged and broken road passes constantly changing views as we 
go along. Indeed, as an European writer has said, "Japan is the world's 
perfect park." 

For generations the people have lived among these striking beau- 
ties of nature, and have become lovers of it. This love of nature shows 
itself in their art and literature, where landscapes, flowers and birds 
are exquisitely pictured and described. 

Then the Japanese began long ago to build their houses and temples 
where these best fitted their needs and often where they looked out 
upon beautiful scenes ; and they made paths and roads and set out trees 
and plants where these would be most useful, and then, behold ! these 
temples, shrines, pagodas, lanterns, trees and plants and paths and 
roads all seemed to take their proper places in the landscape and to 
make it more beautiful still ! 

The principal trees that adorn the landscape in Japan are pines 
and cedars. These are abundant throughout the islands. They remain 
green all the year round and as they grow old they become more 
artistic in shape, especially those that cling to the cliffs and battle with 
rough winds and weather. You may have seen some of these in Japa- 
nese prints. 

In Japan are hundreds of temples. The sites usually chosen for 
them are high up on a mountain side, where the mountain scenery as 
a background for the stately buildings helps to make a deep impression 
upon the visitor. 

Certain Details of the Miniature Landscape 

I pass on now to a description of some of the objects in the 
miniature landscape I have made. 

As we go into the temple grounds we first pass through a gate 



Newark Museum Association 



"San mon," a typical gate for the front of a temple of this kind. On 
each side of San mon^ we find the Karashishi, an idealized lion and 
lioness, which, religious traditions say, are the servants of God watch- 
ing over the visitors who come and go. 

On the right of the gate is a little rest house for visitors. The 
semi-circular bridge in front of San mon, is called "Taiko Bashi," 
meaning a drum bridge. If we take a side view of it we can see why 
it is so named, for as the shadow of the bridge falls on the water it 
makes, with the bridge itself, a whole circle, the shape of the drum 
used in Japan. Of course this bridge is built in the temple grounds to 
please the eye. 




Buddhist temple, 9 inches high. The foundation is of plaster, 
representing stones and mortar. All roofs of Buddhist temples 
in Japan are of tiles. Shinto temples have thatched roofs. 



iSan Mon means temple gate. In olden times a temple was called a San, 
which means ' mountain." Although we write "mountain gate," we mean "temple 
gate." 



The Japanese Landscape 



The Temple and the Tower 

The main temple^ faces the top landing of the stone steps. The 
design of this temple has a history. About 600 A. D. it was brought 
from the continent, together with the religion of Buddha. As the years 
passed its architecture took on certain Japanese features. The temple 
I have designed is in the style of the most flourishing period in 
Japanese architecture. 

The tower at the right is "Gojunoto," a five-story tower.- Its 
beauty is in its outlines. Its construction is interesting. Its timbers 
are put together with mortise and tenon, and with no spikes or nails, 
yet towers thus made have stood firmly for many hundred years against 
storms, in spite of their slender construction. It is one of the ornaments 
of the temple yard. 





Bell house and gateway, each about 5 inches high. These are 
necessary parts of all Japanese Buddhist temples. The clapper of the 
bell is suspended from the roof by cords. The karashishi are 
gilded. 



^Early Shinto temples or shrines before 600 A. D. were modeled after the 
primitive houses of the Japanese and have thatched roofs. Buddhist temples are 
more elaborate. 

-Buddhism was introduced into Japan from China about 600 A. D., and 
with it came the pagoda, which is to a Buddhist temple what the spire is to the 
Christian church. In East India the pagoda was originally erected to house 
sacred relics. Its architecture has been changed by the Japanese. It always has 
an odd number of stories. 



Newark Museum Association 




Gojunoto, or pagoda, 15 inches high. It is made 
of wood painted red and has a gray roof repre- 
senting tiles. The balustrade around each story 
is delicately carved. 



The Japanese Landscape 



In the rear of the main temple there is a bell tower, on an eleva- 
tion so that the bell may be heard far away. Note that the bell is 
rung- by being struck with the end of a beam which is hung- on ropes 
for the purpose. 

The Country House 

Now pass on to the country house. Its gate is in the style called 
"Kabuki mon," a lintel gate. The little structure at the left is a 
"Kura," a fire-proof store house/ built with a wooden frame, plas- 
tered with mud, very thick, and finished with two or three coats of 
stucco. The kura is a fire-proof place provided by wealthy Japanese 
as a store room for their treasures, for most Japanese houses are built 
of wood and are not safe from fire. 

The little house to the right of the gate is the store house in which 
are kept wood, charcoal and garden tools. 

The main house is in the style of the country house of a man of 
wealth. Two sides are closed and two sides are open to the weather. 
It is provided with paper sliding doors called "Shoji." They slide on 
rails which are placed just a little above the floor. These doors look 
like French windows, with rice paper pasted in the sash instead of 
glass. At night other sliding doors of wood are taken from their 
storage place and fastened to the rails outside the shoji, as a protection 
from storm or invaders. In the morning these are put back. 

In the country the farmer thatches his roof with reeds. In the 
city shingles and tiles are used. Many temples have roofs of copper. 

The Country Gentleman's Garden 

The garden in Japan is arranged to be looked at from the house, 
the best view of it being from the most important room. 

In a Japanese house there is no furniture to sit upon or sleep upon, 
no chairs or bedsteads. The floor answers all purposes. The entire 
floor is covered by a straw mattress about two inches thick, woven very 

^Kura, a fire-proof store house made of coats of mud plastered on a heavy 
frame-work. Each coat must dry out thoroughly, so it sometimes takes two 
years to complete. The final coat of plaster is white or black. The white is 
of lime and blackened by mixing with lamp black and highly polished by rubbing 
with cloth and the hand, until it looks like black lacquer. 




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The Japanese Landscape 11 

closely, and covered by a fresh green matting^ which is changed twice 
a year. At night the bedding — pillow and quilts and so on — is pulled 
out from a closet and spread on the floor at any convenient place and 
in the morning is folded up and put back in the closet. 

There is no fear that sleeping on the floor will be unsanitary, 
because in Japan no one dares to come in the house wearing outside 
footwear. All take off their slippers or shoes in the vestibule and make 
sure that their feet are clean before coming into the house. And the 
maids keep the floors very clean, so that no mark is made on the cloth- 
ing when one sits down. 

The Japanese Garden or Landscape 

I want to say a word about the Japanese garden or landscape as 
a work of art. At first our ancestors were satisfied to copy natural 
scenery in their gardens. By and by, as they made progress, they 
strove to display idealized nature. The Japanese garden-landscape 
shows the same artistic taste as the painted landscape. Both are by 
artists and in both the artists try to bring out the beauties of nature, 
one working on the actual ground, the other on canvas. 

Gardening is one of the arts which Japan has studied for cen- 
turies and in which it excels all other countries. It is rapidly gaining 
in popularity wherever it is introduced. 

One distinction of the Japanese garden-landscape as compared 
with other kinds is that its beauty and interest vary as the seasons 
change. It is delightful in the day time. It becomes quiet and poetic 
at night. Even in midwinter its beauty never departs. Every bit of 
nature herself is here so modified by the artists that it has each season 
the peculiar charm that season lends to it. And the older a Japanese 
garden, the more natural it looks, and added years serve only to increase 
its glories. 

This miniature garden is a representation of a perfect, classical, 
"Tsukiyama-style" landscape-garden.^ 

^So many straw mats of uniform size are used that a room is measured by 
the number of mats it will hold, "Three mats long and two mats wide," etc. Each 
mat is about six feet long and three feet wide. 

-There are three distinct styles of gardens in Japan : 

1. Tsukiyama, or hilly garden, containing lakes, waterfalls, the typical scen- 
ery of Japan. 

2. Hira niwa, or flat garden. 

3. Cha niwa, or tea garden. Cha means tea. 



12 Newark Museum Association 

A Few of the Books in the Library on Japan 

Japanese Homes and their Surroundings. Edward S. Morse, 
N. Y. 1895. 

Japanese Life in Town and Country. George William Knox, 
N. Y. 1905. 

Impressions of Japanese Architecture and the Allied Arts. Ralph 
Adams Cram, N. Y. 1905. 

Landscape Gardening in Japan. Josiah Conder, Tokio. 1893. 

Japan, Past and Present. O. Buhicrosan, London. 1884. 

Japanese Interior. A. M. Bacon, Boston. 1893. 

Things Japanese. B. H. Chamberlain, London. 1890. 

Highways and Houses of Japan. Lady Kate Lawson, London. 
1910. 

Life of Japan. Masuji Miyakawa. 1907. 

Japan ; Aspects and Destinies. W. P. Watson. 1904. 

Takeo Shiota 

His Life, Told by Himself 

I was born in 1881 of an old family in a village about forty miles 
east of Tokio. The village is near the coast and surrounded by moun- 
tains. My father was a well-to-do farmer. 

In my school days I was known as a rough mischief-maker ; but 
when, as I grew older, I decided to take up the profession of land- 
scape gardener, m,v character changed and I became quiet and thought- 
ful. 

Near my home are many beautiful streams, and wild scenery with 
old historical castles, tranquil shrines and large temples. 

Being an active boy, I was very fond of exploring the country 
round about, of following streams and of climbing steep mountains. 
My daily contact with these beautiful natural surroundings uncon- 
sciously fascinated me and gradually awakened in me a love of nature. 

As my interest and taste for these things grew, it became my 
greatest pleasure to go on these explorations. I went whenever I 
could. 



The Japanese Landscape 13 

After I was graduated from High School, I decided to see all the 
famous scenery, architecture and gardens in Japan. I traveled on foot 
through half of Japan. During this tour, I came to two conclusions : 
the one, a garden reflects the work of a mediocre or skilful landscape 
gardener, and second, gardening is like the art of painting, infinite. 

I then decided to become a landscape gardener and architect and 
went to Tokio to receive instruction. But I was disappointed at the 
little I could learn from my master. I could acquire technique, but 
the spirit and first elements of gardening I had to learn from nature 
herself. I changed teachers, but it was the same. 

Then I came to the conclusion that if I washed to learn gardening 
I must see the things of nature and learn from them. So I started 
once more to travel. Thus the scenery of Japan is my true teacher. 

I spent five years in study in this way. Then one day the thought 
came to me that there was not enough opportunity in Japan to fulfill 
my ambitions. I crossed the Pacific in 1907 and came to the United 
States. 

The gardens I have made in this country are the following. 

Mr. Salisbury, Plainfield, N. J. 

Miss Scofield, Tuxedo Park, N. Y. 

Mr. Brown, Staten Island, N. Y. 

Miss Hoyt, Oyster Bay, L. I. 

Mr. Gould, Lakewood, N. J. 

Exhibition for Japan Society, N. Y. 

Brooklyn Botanical Garden, N. Y. 

My greatest ambition is to design a garden more beautiful than 
all others in the world, and thus to prove the truth of the saying, 
"Japanese landscape gardening is the Queen of all the Arts." 

My greatest enjoyment is in nature and the contemplation of 
natural things, landscape and the actions of animals or fishes. For that 
reason I go hunting. I go to the deep woods of North Carolina and 
Virginia to hunt deer, to shoot ducks and quail, for at least three 
months of the year. 

To go far from the noise of civilization, to live the simple country 
life and breathe deeply of pure air — that is the cleanser of life. 

T. Shiota. 
New York City, August i, 191 5. 



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